CIHM 
Microfiche 
Series 
(■Monographs) 


ICIUIH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  NotM  /  Notts  tachniqun  et  bibliographiquM 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  altar  any 
of  the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  metfuid  of  filming,  are 
checked  below. 


L'Institut  a  microfilmi  le  meilleur  exemplaire  qu'il 
lui  a  ete  possible  de  se  procurer.   Les  details  da  cat 
exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-4tre  uniques  du  point  de  vue 
bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image 
reproduite.  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modification 
dans  la  mithode  normale  de  f  ilmage  sont  indiqu^ 
ci-dessous. 


D 
D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  da  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagte 


□  Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restauree  et/ou  pelliculte 


□  Cover  title 
Le  titre  de 


missing/ 
couverture  manque 


□  Coloured  maps/ 
Caites  giographiques  en  couleur 

□  Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


D 

D 


n 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relie  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr^  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge  interieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have 
been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  etait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  ete  filmees. 


□  Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  da  couleur 

□  Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 

□  Pages  restored  an  "     '4nn'^s^■  61 
Pages  restauriesei  <»i  :«-  *ir>!' jes 

0  Pages  discoloured,  staihi.'   ■'  'uxod/ 
Pages  decolorees,  tache;eds  ou  piquees 

□  Pages  detached/ 
Pages  detachtes 

QShowthrough/ 
Transparence 


Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Qualite  inegale  de  I'impression 

Continuous  pagination/ 
Pagination  continue 


n 


Includes  index(es)/ 
Comprend  un  (des)  index 

Title  on  header  taken  from:/ 
Le  titre  de  I'en-tCte  provient: 


n  Title  page  of  issue/ 
Page  de  titre  de  la  livraison 

□  Caption  of  issue/ 
Titre  de  depart  de  la  livraison 

□  Masthead/ 
Generique  (periodiques)  de  la  livraison 


D 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  tupplementaires: 


This  Item  Is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filme  au  taux  de  reduction  indique  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X 


22X 


26  X 


XX 


/ 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32* 


The  copy  filmed  h«r«  has  b—n  raprodMcad  thank* 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

Victoria  University,  Toronto 
E.J.  Pratt  Library 

Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
posaibia  conaidaring  tha  condition  and  lagibillty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacificationa. 


L'axampiaira  filmi  fut  raproduit  grlca  k  la 
gtnArositi  da: 

Victoria  University,   Toronto 
E.J.    Pratt   Library 

Las  imagas  suivantas  ont  AtA  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compts  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattatS  da  l'axampiaira  filmS.  at  an 
conformita  avac  laa  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 


Original  copias  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  filmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printac* 
or  illuatratad  impraaaion. 


Laa  axamplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  sn 
papiar  ast  ImprimAa  sont  filmas  an  commancant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraasion  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  la  sacond 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  laa  autras  axamplairas 
originaux  sont  filmAs  an  commanpant  par  la 
pramiAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraasion  ou  d'illustration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  taiia 
amprainta. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  «^  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  ▼  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  applias. 


Un  daa  symbolas  suivants  spparaitra  sur  la 
darniira  imaga  da  chaqua  microfiche,  salon  la 
cas:  la  symbols  — ^  signifia  "A  SUIVRE".  la 
symbols  ▼  signifia  "FIN". 


Mapa,  platas.  charts,  ate.  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  oe 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hend  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Lea  cartas,  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  etre 
filmis  A  des  taux  da  reduction  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  itre 
reproduit  en  un  soul  cliche,  il  est  filmS  A  partir 
da  Tangle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imagea  nAcessaira.  Las  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrant  la  mAthoda. 


1  2  3 


1  2  3 

4  5  6 


MICROCOPY  RESOLUTION  TEST  CHART 

NATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  STANDARDS 

STANDARD  REFERENCE  MATERIAL  1010a 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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' 


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■:      'S 

i: 

1 ' 

If 

1 

"'- 

1 

Sir  Kenelm  Digby  and  His 
Powder  of  Sympathy 


V 


\ 


f 


BY 

WILLIAM   RKNWICK   RIDDELL,  LL.D., 

TORONTO. 
FF.LK -V,    ROYAL    HISTOEICAI.    SOCIITY,    KTC. 


Reprinted  ffom   The  New  York  Medical  Journal  for 
February  19,  I9i^- 


Keprintcd  from  th.'  .V*«.   Y.rk  Mfdic4i  Journal  for 
Ftbruary  19.  '9'^- 


SIR  KENELM   DIGBY  AND   HIS   POWDER 

OF  SYMPATHY. 

By  William  Renwick  Riddell,  LL.  D., 

Toronto. 

Fellow,  Royal  Historical  Socit-j     ^tc. 

Of  the  many  singular  theories  in  •«]<■■  history  of 
medicine,  not  the  least  curious  is  that  of  the  Powder 
of    Sympathy    associated    with   the    name   ot    bir 

Kenelm  Digby.  ,  . ,      j      »^    ,» 

Dieby  (1603-1665)  was  thoroughly  educated,  as 
education  was  then  understood  in,En?la"d;  was  a 
mathematician  of  note  and  well  skilled  m  the  natural 
sciences.     He  was  a  man  of   fine  presence,  great 
stature,  and  bodily  strength;  gifted,  too,  with  a 
graceful  courtesy  of  manner  and  fluency  of  speec 
which  won  him  many  friends.    A  successful  naval 
commander,  he  got  his  country  into  trouble  by  his 
too  great  success  as  a  privateersman.     An  expen 
swordsman,  he  never  hesitated  to  give  and  never 
refused  a  challenge,  although  by  no  means  quarre- 
some     A  Royalist,  he  was  employed  by  Cromwell 
on  foreign  missions,  and  on  the  Restoration  was  re- 
ceived into  favor      He  is  most  celebrated  for  his 
powder  of  sympathy ;  this  was  used  to  apply  to  the 
weapon  which  had  caused  a  wound  (the  wound  itseU 
receiving  no  treatment,  except  to  be  kept  cool  and 
clean),  and  wondrous  cures  were  the  result,     ihese 
cures  were  as  well  vouched  for  as  the  most  striking 
cures  bv  Christian  science,  faith  cure,  new  thought, 
or  other  methods  not  acknowledged  by  the  regular 
profession;   and   in  manv   instances  the  proot   is 

overwhelming.  ^,  „•      tt- 

Dieby.  in  a  formal  address  at  Montpelher,  France, 
in  i6«;7  (not  1658  as  the  Encyclopedia  Bntanmca 
and  the  Dictionary  of  Natiotial  Biography  have  it), 
explained  the  theory  of  the  powder.    This  was  al- 

Copyright,   1916,  by  A.   R.   Elliott  PiiblisliinK  Company. 


I. 


Fi^itU:  Dighy  »***  W**  Powdtr. 

most  at  once  printe  '  in  London,  and  twelve  years 
afterward  appeared  a  volume  before  me  as  I  write, 
in  which  fifty-nine  pages  are  a  reprint  of  this  ad- 
dress. The  title  page  reads:  "/  Discourse  m  a 
Solemn  Assembly  at  Montpellier,  made  in  French 
by  Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  Knight.  1657.  Lx)ndon. 
Printed  for  John  Williams.  1669."  There  is  a  sub- 
title, A  Discourse  of  the  Cure  of  Wounds  by  the 
Powder  of  Sympathy. 

The  secret  of  the  powder,  he  says,  he  got  from  a 
Carmelite  friar,  who  had  been  in  China,  Persia,  and 
tne  Indies,  and  had  done  many  marvelous  cure,  'th 
it.  It  was  simply  powdered  "vitriol,"  i.  e.,  tmp.ire 
iron  or  copper  sulphate.* 

The  theory,  Digby  bases  on  seven  propositions: 

1 .  The  whole  air  is  filled  with  light,  and  he  says 
he  can  prove  that  light  is  a  material  and  corporeal 
substance— Sir  Isaac  Newton's  "corpuscular  theory," 
which  did  not  receive  its  quietus  till  a  century  and  a 
half  after  Digby 's  time. 

2.  The  light  when  it  strikes  any  body  makes  some 
small  incisions,  and,  separating  small  atoms  from 
the  body,  carries  them  away  with  it  when  reflected. 
This  is  the  real  basis  of  the  whole  theory,  and  it  is 
demonstrably  false. 

3.  The  air  is  therefore  full  of  small  bodies  or 
atoms— this  is  not  far  from  the  truth,  but  not  from 
the  reason  Digby  assigns. 

4.  Every  body,  however  small,  is  divisible  ad  in- 
finitum. This  is  pretty  much  the  basis  of  our  atomic 
theory  and  the  theory  of  molecules,  and,  within 
moderately  wide  limits,  is  true.  . ,   „  . 

5.  Small  bodies  or  atoms  are  "drawn  aside,  1.  e., 
attracted  "to  a  road  altogether  differing  from  that 
which  their  universal  causes  should  make  them 
hold."  Leaving  aside  the  metaphysics,  this  means 
that  they  are  subiect  to  attraction,  which  is  un- 
doubtedly true.  The  examples  given  show  the  state 
of  physics  at  the  time.    Magnetic  and  electric  attrac- 

>Tlie  reaction  when  a  sword  wa»  immeried  in  a  »l.utioti  of  thf 
powder,  indicates  that  it  was  copper  sulphate,    blue  vitriol. 


h 
It  1 


1 


Riddfll:  Dujby  and  His  I'owder. 

tion  are  well  enough ;  but  when  our  author  instances 
sucking  and  the  siphoii  as  cases  of  attraction  rather 
than  of  vis  a  tergo,  he  is  far  astray  The  state  of 
medical  science,  too.  is  illustrated  by  some  of  the 
examples  of  "drawing"  which  are  given  at  this 
staee-  "  'Tis  upon  this  foundation  that  Physicians 
ordain  the  application  of  Pigeons  or  Puppy  s  or 
some  other  hot  Animals  to  the  soles  of  the  feet,  or 
the  hand  wrists  or  the  stomachs  or  the  "avils  of 
their  Patients,  to  extract  out  of  their  bodies  the 
wind  or  ill  vapours  which  infect  them. 

The   celebrated    Doctor   Sydenham    (whom   his 
biographer  accuses  of  "having  obtained  a  medical 
degree-  with  little  or  no  knowledge  of  medicine  ) 
about  this  time  in  cases  of  the  "iliac  passion    (vol- 
vulu<«)  was  accustomed  to  "order  a  live  kit.ing  to  be 
always  upon  the  naked  belly":  and  the  still  more 
celebrated  John  Wesley,  three  quarters  of  a  century 
later,  recommended  to  "hold  a  live  puppy  constantly 
on  the  belly."    I  ventured  to  suggest  that  this  treat- 
ment might  be  quite  reasonable  as  supplying  a  steady 
heat,  at  t;-.e  same  time  giving  the  patient  something 
to  think  of  beside  his  abdomen ;'-'  but  the  theory  was 
quite  JifTerent.                                                        ,  . 
^  Digby  then  gives  the  case  of  a  """  (;:«PO\%«  .^ 
Pctrus  Servius,  phvsician  to   Pope  Urban   ViU), 
who  bv  excessive  fasting,  etc..  had  so  wasted  her 
body  that  she  seemed  all  one  fire.    This  heat  drew 
into  her  body  the  air;  the  air  got  '"to  that  part 
where  theie  is  *;he  most  "serosity."  i.  e.,  the  bladder. 
There  the  air  was  rendered  into  water    among  ner 
urine"  in  an  incredible  quantity,  and  she  for  som^ 
weeks  voided  more  than  200  pounds  ot  water  every 
twenty-four  hours.    Twenty  gallons  a  day  was  not 
bad  •  but  the  extraordinary  features  of  the  story  are 
the  ideas  that  fire  or  heat  cjuld  draw  air,  that  air 
could  be  transformed  into  water,  and  that,  tv;  .he 
bladder.    Of  course  Malpighi  had  not  yet  published 
his  irmnortal  discoveries  as  to  "glands." 

•Weiley-s  System  of  Medicine,  New  Yo.k  Medical  Jou.kai.,  Janu- 
»ry   10,   I9U. 


HiddiH    Diiibv  and  Hit  Pou-der. 


ll 


6.  The  sixth  principle  follows.    When  fire  or  heat 
draws  air,  and  the  air  has  in  it  any  atom  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  drawing  body,  such  atoms  are  more 
powerfully  attracted  than  if  they  were  of  a  different 
substance;  and  "they  stay,  stick,  and  mingle  more 
willingly  with  the  body  which  draws  them. "  because 
of  "their  Resemblance  and  Sympathy  they  have  one 
with  the  other."    The  loves  and  hates  of  the  dif- 
ferent forms  of  matter  were  a  constant  study  and  a 
constant  puzzle  to  the  alchtmists ;  they  could  not  un- 
derstand why  wate'  should  refuse  to  unite  with  olive 
oil  and  yet  eagerly  unite  with  oil  of  vitriol.     The 
pseudoscience  of   Digby  was  equally  helpless  but 
greatly  daring.  Crystallization  he  makes  an  effect  of 
"resemblance  of  figure."  "Ordinary  salt  forms  itself 
alwaies  in  cubes  of  four  square  faces ;  salt-peter  in 
forms  of  six  faces ;  Ammoniac-salt  in  Hexagons,  as 
the  Snow  doth,  which  i?  sexangular.    Whereto  Mr. 
Davison  attributes  the  pentagonary  form  of  every- 
one '^''   hose  stones  which  were  found  in  the  bladder 
of   .   ^.-.sir   Peltier  to  the   number  of    fourscore." 
When  one  has  burned  his  hand,  it  la  an  ordinary 
thing  to  hold  the  hand  near  the  tire — the  ignited 
atoms  of  the  fire  and  of  the  hand  draw  one  another, 
"the  fire  being  the  stronger,  has  the  mastery  and 
draws  out  the  fire  of  the  hand,  which  is  thereby 

eased. Tis  an  usual  course  though  a  nasty  one 

of  those  who  have  ill  breaths  to  hold  their  mouths 
open  over  the  Privy  as  long  as  they  can ;  and  by  the 
reiteration  of  this  remedy  they  find  themselves 
cured  at  last,  the  greater  stink  of  the  Privy  -Irawing 
to  it  and  carrying  away  the  lesse,  which  is  that  of 
the  mouth."  On  the  same  principle  the  head  of  a 
viper  or  scorpion  is  placed  over  a  wound  caused  by 
its  bite ;  the  humble  and  inoffensive  toad  (as  it  is 
now  known  to  be)  was  then  supposed  to  be  f""  of 
poison ;  accordingly  "The  Farcy  is  a  venemous  and 
contagious  humour  within  the  body  of  a  Horse: 
hang  a  toad  about  the  neck  of  the  Horse  in  a  little 
bag  and  he  will  be  cured  infallibly :  the  Toad  which 
is  the  stronger  poyson  drawing  to  it  the  venome 


Hidden :  Oujby  and  Hit  I'ouder. 

Which  wa,  within  the  Horse."  ^^«j;J:.^*J.^S 
makes  a  kind  of  fermentation  w»^«",  **  Xlries  ox 
flower,  and  a  table  cloth  "spoted  ^'th  Mu1^«ti«  J*^ 
r«l  Wine  is  easily  whitened  again  at  the  beason 
Tk;*  T-.  P  LtT  flower."  This  forms  an  easy  ex- 
Sji^o^  oSe'Tnd  birthmarks  generally,  as  well 
as  of  the  contagiousi..ss  of  yawning.' 
yet%r;^-?n  £cra°n7n°i  sf  mSevil 

b  tten  SX  craw  to  .c  the  malignant  spirUs  of  the 
fij  rr«'n,..K  of  .he  flesh  of  ,,h.r  men  p.«:c^ 

itaian  surgeon  and  professor  of  anatomy  and  sur- 

ELfeiit'orSp£v*.i»3sj| 
?is-,sr„"ol^T*rii".;^^^^ 

'"^^"triSuni'of  Brux*.  who  in  a  comto. 

•An   example.  •:in.er.«in,i,truc.^^ 

whitens  it  so  that  it  «:"«  »fP«?'LSiu„"*  .and  Anger  it  w  th 
Mvs  "Take  then  a  apoonful  of  Mercury  ■.  •  ';  "^m  beJome  whitr 
"Vhand:  if  you  have  a  Gold  nng  ^l^^l°''^y\T ,^Vt  a  leaf  or 
and  coverr<  with  Mercury.  .  .  •  rO'"!"/  one  of  your  toes  in  a 
Tcrowr  u!  Gold  in  your  ™outh  »»d  PUt  but^one  o^^y^^ 

»ip^,^;'.^e^rcIo^-'4"ifaii%'"a1,n^^^^^^^^ 

•tter.  „._^  ,         .  ,„,  _.,.«•  it  seems  to  me  distinctly  inferior 

""    Ifevss  »s.-.  SW" -■•••• 


:! 


Riddell:  Digby  and  His  Powder. 

(Bologna,  Italy),  that  he  might  procure  a  new  one; 
and  when  he  feared  the  incision  of  his  own  arm,  he 
hired  a  Porter  to  admit  it,  out  of  whose  arm,  hav- 
ing first  given  the  reward  agreed  on,  at  length  he 
dig'd  a  new  nose.  About  thirteen  months  after  his 
return  to  his  own  country,  in  a  sudden  the  ingrrafted 
nose  grew  cold,  putrified,  and  within  a  few  days 
dropt  off.  To  those  of  his  friends  that  were  curious 
in  the  explanation  of  the  cause  of  this  unexpected 
misfortune,  it  was  discovered  that  the  Porter  ex- 
pired, neer  about  the  same  punctilio  of  time  wherein 
the  nose  grew  frigid  and  cadaverous.  There  are  at 
Bruxels  yet  surviving  some  of  good  repute,  that 
were  eye  witnesses  of  these  occurrences." 

Samuel  Butler  gives  this  in  a  poetic  form,  but 
with  the  facts  (?)  a  little  different : 

So  learned  Taliacotius  from 
The  brawny  part  of  porter's  bum 
Cut  supplemental  noses  which 
Would  last  as  long  as  parent  breech ; 
But  when  the  date  of  Nock  was  out 
Off  drop'd  the  sympathetic  snout. 

Hudibras,  Canto  i,  281-286. 

Every  one  knows  the  amusing  story  on  the  same 
theme  by  Edmond  About,  Le  nes  d'un  notaire? 

7.  The  source  of  those  atoms  not  only  attracts 
them  to  itself  but  also  all  that  accompanies,  sticks 
to  or  is  united  with  them. 

This  explains  the  common  custom  of  throwing 
salt  on  the  cinders  when  milk  has  boiled  over.  When 
the  milk  is  burning,  the  cow's  udder  whence  it  came 
attracts  the  atoms  of  the  milk  and  the  accompanying 
fire ;  unless  some  precaution  is  taken,  the  udder  will 
become  hard  and  ulcerated,  the  cow  will  suffer  from 
hematuria  (Digby  uses  plain  Saxon  terms),  and  she 
will  be  in  danger  to  die.  Now,  salt  is  "of  a  nature 
clean  contrary  to  fire,  the  one  being  hot  and  volatil, 
the  other  cold  and  fixed,  in  so  much  that  where  they 
use  to  encounter,  the  salt,  as  it  were,  knocks  down 
the  fire" — ^and  there  you  are. 

•See  A  Seventeenth  Century  Surgeon  and  His  Fee,  New  York 
Medical  Journal.  March  2,  191 2. 


^ItimtmnhiaUimlUlktM 


RiddelL  Digby  and  His  Powdir. 

So  both  in  France  and  England,  physicians  in 
sdertin^a  foster  mother,  test  her  milk  ^Yj^^^^f' 

tormented  m  their  f  aps,  wnuc  luc 

boiling    that  having  once  endured  this  pain  they 

wouW  never  consent"  a^in  to  this  test 

Tn  like  manner  take  the  excrement  of  a  dog  ana 
,hX  iUnr*e "re ;  he  be.comes  heated  ^i  mo«d 

%rHe' r.S'.  has  .he  same  example  (A  Ternary 

SrS:  London-:  .650).  This  .s  what  he  says  ■ 
"HMh  anyone  with  his  excrements  defiled  th< 
,h"e*o,dTthy  do-  and  .ho„  ^nten  e.  -  ^^^Z 
tl  utS,"Se  'e-Jcrterand  t'"ln%.  ,^-n 

;'"J  '«*trri?;S|  ^r-S^^eS  and^V 
Zril  I'gneSm  driX  V  acrimony  of  the  hum- 

'"Kby'^veTa'SncXcas.  o.  the  child  of  a 
neSS  ta  EngUnd;  he  had  a  burning  fever,  was 
SS  all  ovfr,  •■strove  .0  go  '» '"'j'-^'^'^'^'^ 
,ln  little  and  that    ttle  covered  with  blooa ,  ne  re 
?2sed  the  b,«,st,"   and   his   parents  were   most 

bitTf  thS^g'r  i£^^'  L:^£i: 


u 


Riddell:  Digby  and  His  Powder. 

one  of  the  most  illustrious  Magistrates  of  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris."  The  appropriate  treatment  was  ob- 
vious ;  the  excrements  were  "put  into  a  bason  of  cold 
water  and  set  in  a  cool  place."  The  inevitable  re- 
sult followed ;  "the  child  began  to  amend  the  very 
same  hour  and  within  four  or  five  daies  became  per- 
fectly well  recover'd." 

Overfat  cattle  whose  hoof  has  swollen  and  has  a 
putrefied  core  are  cured  on  the  same  principle.  Put 
a  turf  upon  which  some  of  the  corrupt  matter  from 
the  hoof  has  been  pressed  out,  "exposed  in  some 
proper  place  to  receive  the  dry  cold  blasts  of  the 
northern  wind,"  and  the  trick  is  done  and  a  cure 
effected. 

Now  comes  the  complete  theory  of  the  operation 
of  the  sympathetic  powder :  "Vitriol  is  composed  of 
two  parts,  the  one  fixed,  the  other  volatil ;  the  fixed, 
which  IS  the  salt,  is  sharp  and  biting'and  caustique  in 
some  degree ;  the  volatil  is  smooth,  soft,  balsamical 
and  astringent  .  .  .  they  who  well  know  how  to 
draw  the  sweet  oyl  of  Vitriol,  which  is  the  pure 
volatil  part  thereof,  know  also  th:  in  the  whole 
closet  of  Nature  there  is  no  balm  IIkc  oyl."  Easv 
SirKenehn!  ^  ^' 

Now  take  some  vitriol  (Vitriol  of  Rome  or  Cy- 
prus preferred,  and  some  add  Gum  of  Tragacanth), 
dissolve  it  in  fountain,  or  better,  rain  water;  into 
this  water  "put  a  clowt  or  rag  embrued  with  the 
blood  of  the  party"  if  the  rag  was  dry;  "if  the  rag 
was  still  wet  and  moist  with  the  reaking  blood, 
there  was  no  need  but  to  sprinkle  it  with  the  powder 
of  the  same  vitriol."  Keep  the  rag  in  a  cool  place, 
renewing  the  water  or  the  powder  from  time  to 
time.  The  explanation  is  simplicity  itself,  granting 
Sir  Kenelm  his  premises.  The  light  strikes  the 
vitriol  and  the  blood,  tears  off  atoms  of  both,  the 
wound  attracts  the  atoms  of  blood  and  with  them 
the  atoms  ^i  vitriol,  "the  spirits  of  the  vitriol  which 
is  of  a  balsamical  virtue,"  enters  the  wound  ard  it 
"thereby  is  immediately  refresht  and  eas'd."  The 
same  cure  is  effected  "b^-  ipplying  the  remedy  to  the 

8 


Hidden :  Digby  and  His  I'owdir. 

Blade  ot  a  Sword  which  has  wounded  a  body,  so  the 
sword  be  not  too  much  heated  by  the  fire." 

Any  one  can  easily  see  that  "in  this  Sympathetica! 
Cure  there  is  no  need  to  admit  of  an  action  distant 
from  the  Patient,"  for  there  is  "a  real  communica- 
tion 'twixt  the  one  and  the  other.,  viz.  of  a  Bal- 
samical  substance  which  corporally  mingles  with  the 
wound  .  Nee  Deus  intersit,  nisi  dtgnus  vtndice 

nodus  incident:'  Here  Digby  definitely  parts  com- 
pany with  Van  Helmont  and  his  kind,  who  all  in- 
sisted on  action  of  one  body  upon  another  at  a  dis- 
tance and  in  whose  theory  God  was  constantly  ai>- 
pearing— the  Deus  ex  machina  always  in  evidence. 
The  very  great  comparative  success  of  the  sym- 
pathetic powder  will  excite  no  astonishment  with 
those  who  know  the  villainous  treatment  secundum 
artem  of  the  regular  surgeons  of  tb**  time.  . 

With  a  belief  not  dead  till  Lister  killed  it,  and  in 
full  vigor  in  my  day  as  a  medical  student,  that  pus 
was  a  good  thing  in  itself,  so  long  as  it  was    laud- 
able pus"  and  not  too  abundant,  the  faculty  of  the 
seventeenth  century  used  every  effort  to  bnng  it 
forth-and  many  times,  indeed,  thought  it  sufficient 
to  cure  the  wound  if  the  surgeon  had  the  skill  or 
good  fortune  to  excite  a  sufficient  quantity  of  this 
laudable  which  some  therefore  called  also  healthy 
and  benign  pus ;  so  the  surgeons  applied  a    digest- 
ive "     But  they  were  not  content  to  rely  upon  the 
pus-exciting  medicament  alone,  but  often  applied  a 
most  celebrated  vulnerary  balsam  which  was  ap- 
proved by  Paulus  Barbette,  an  acknowledged  master 
of  the  art  of  surgery— and  this  balsam  was  com- 
posed of  many  ingredients, turpentine,  gum  galbani. 
gum  elemi  and  hederae,  frankincense,  gum  mastich. 
mvrrh,  aloes,  galingal,  cloves,  cinnamon,  nutmeg,  and 
cubebs.     And  this  ointment  was  considered  both 
"digestive,  sarcotic,  and  epulotic"— for  the  turpen- 
tine   gum   elemi,    frankincense,   and   mastich    are 
digestive,  the  gum  galbani,  gum  elemi,  myrrh,  a  oes, 
cloves,  and  nutmeg  were  thought  sarcotic,  and  aloes, 
myrrh,  and  mastich  to  be  also  epulotic. 


I 

I 


Riddell:  Digby  and  His  Powder. 

This  foul  mess  applied  to  the  wound,  the  surgeons 
firmly  believed  had  much  virtue ;  but  the  result  of 
such  an  application  can  be  contemplated  only  with 
a  shudder  by  one  trained  in  the  ultracleanly  methods 
of  modern  surgery.  In  Digby 's  method  there  was 
no  topical  application  to  the  wound;  all  that  was 
doni  to  it,  was  to  wash  it  carefully  from  time  to 
time  with  fair  clean  water,  cover  it  with  a  clean,  soft 
linen  cloth,  and  cleanse  it  once  a  day  from  pus  and 
other  impurities — the  purer  the  water,  the  cleaner 
the  cloth,  the  better.  And  the  beneficial  result  which 
Digby  referred  to  the  vitriol  followed  from  vis  medi- 
catrix  Natura,  old  Dame  Nature's  own  remedy. 

OsGOODE  Hall. 


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